PRAYING TO NOT MISS HEARING IMPORTANT THINGS

How often do we miss very obvious things that we’ve been told?  I’m struck by this as I read this account of what Jesus clearly told his disciples prior to his suffering and death:

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”  Matthew 20:17-19

They obviously heard what Jesus said.  He’d taken them aside privately to make sure they had the focus and attention to hear.  And yet they didn’t hear, really.  As specifically as Jesus described what was going to happen, they still didn’t get it when it actually happened.

I wonder how differently they might have acted and reacted had they really taken these words of Jesus to heart when He shared them with them.  This actually was the third time He’d done so

In Matthew 16 we read:

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.  Matthew 16:21

In Matthew 17 this is repeated: 

After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” And the disciples were filled with grief.  Matthew 17:22-23

It seems pretty clear to me what Jesus was telling them, both in terms of specifics about what would happen and who would be involved.  In the Matthew 17 incident it even says the disciples were filled with grief.  Something went in their brains but somehow wasn’t important enough to stick to inform them when the challenging times came.

In our own challenging times, what things has God already told us that could help us see God’s control of events, God’s hand in all that is taking place, and therefore our own place in His care as we journey through the difficulties?

Heavenly Father, give us ears today to hear, hearts that are paying attention and really allowing You to write Your word on our hearts.  We don’t want to just glance at things and have them be information for the day, but we long to have what You are doing shape how we live from day to day and how we act and react to what is going on around us.

Holy Spirit, please bring to our attention today, those things that God has spoken that will help us stand straight and move forward on the path God has laid out for us.  Give us courage to hang onto God even when difficult times He tells us will happen actually happen. 

Thank You for a reliable God who informs us with all we need to know today and carries us through so His kingdom comes and His will is done here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen

I leave us today with this challenge and commitment that I hope we all make:

I will hear what God the Lord will speak for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints, but let them not turn back to folly.  Psalm 85:8